Subponica: Episode 7; Infected
By Terrarian Pony WARNING: Content of this story may include violence, gore, romance, same gender romance, ponies, references to several video games, and possibly PINKIE PIE! If anypony is offended by any of the content listed above, than please turn back now. You have been warned. Previously Next Story: Terrarian Pony presents... Subponica Episode 7 Infected ... It has been a week since the crew found out they were infected, a week since the Lunaray explosion. A week since everypony had given up hope. They were now, just waiting for the inevitable. Argyle got away after Pound's death, and Jenny... She mentioned she wanted to join Sapphire and her crew, but she was suddenly too ashamed of what she did, and decided she would join up when she thinks she is ready. But she told Sapphire that she could take the cyclops, the seamoth, and the mobile vehicle bay. Ruby had apologized to Simon, not that he took it to heart. Ruby decided some time on her own might be good for her, after the things she said. She wanted to go along with Jenny, and see more of the ocean alongside her as her new friend. Sapphire was conflicted about weather or not she would rather the two of them get back together, but Ruby told Sapphire that she deserved better, and Ruby left, intending on coming back when she was ready. Simon stuck around, only to maintain the base with what resources they could find. Brine decided to join up with the rest of them, and even offered to feed the guard stalkers every day. Brine had been very helpful around the habitat since he joined up. Doing chores, assisting the others. Even Simon found him to be a very useful assistant. Clover began to spent more and more time around Sapphire, and ended up becoming a closer friend to her. Everypony began to accept their fate. They didn't know what the virus was capable of, but they decided that if it were to take them, they would go together. Still, even though she was the most subtle about her worries, Sapphire was more scared than anypony else here. She was afraid that death from the virus would be slow, and painful. Luckily, Clover was there to talk about it. She felt she could trust Clover. The whole week felt like ages, and the hours felt like years. The minutes, like months. ... Sapphire:" A whole week, since our only way off this planet exploded before our eyes. It's hard to believe that we'll be stuck here when we die." Clover:" Sapphire..." Sapphire:" I know I shouldn't have given up... but how could I not? At least if I die... I'll die with ponies that care for me." Clover:" Yeah..." Sapphire:" If you don't mind me asking... what would you have gone on to do if we could have gone home?" Clover:" I don't know. Maybe find Chief Morning Star, and beg for my old job back. I don't think I like space travel anymore." Sapphire:" Yeah... and I guess it wouldn't be too late to go back to making coffee. Speaking of which..." Sapphire walked over to the coffee dispenser. Sapphire:" Want some?" Clover:" Um... sure. I guess. Pumpkin spice." Sapphire:" Nice choice." Sapphire ordered two pumpkin spice flavored coffees from the dispenser. While they were waiting, Clover decided to change the subject. Clover:" So... Sapphire." Sapphire:" Yeah?" Clover:" What do you think... of me, I mean?" Sapphire:" Hmm... Well you're sweet, determined, and you have a tendency to get things done... even if it means risking your own skin. You're definitely the most committed pony I've ever met." Clover blushed. Clover:" Would you ever say that I am... a good person?" Sapphire:" Definitely. You are definitely one of the good ones." Clover:" Y-you really think of me that way?" Sapphire:" Wait... is there something you're trying to imply?" Clover:" N-no! Uh... nevermind. It's not important." Sapphire:" Don't tell me you're keeping secrets. I thought we were friends." Clover:" O-Of course we are! I just... I just wanted to know what you thought of me is all. I'm glad you think so highly of me, but I don't think I deserve it." Sapphire:" Why do think that?" Clover:" I've done things before that... that I'm not proud of. And I never told anypony." Sapphire:" You can tell me. I promise, I won't think any differently of you. Besides... you never talked much about your past, and I'd like to hear it." Clover:" Okay, well... I guess I'll start with when I was young." Clover clutched the stuffed puppy in her hooves. She took a deep breath in, and let it out. Clover:" When I was a filly, I was the youngest child of three fillies, and two colts. My siblings hated me, and my parents used me as a venting tool. I was abused me, until I was nine. They sold me to a slaver griffon who ran an illegal mining operation. Three years later, it was found out by Manehatten PD, and they arrested him, and I was free. Chief Morning Star saw to the arrest himself. Although, back then he was just a small time detective, but I admired his work ever since. Never said that to his face, though. After I was freed, I wasn't really... free. I was sent to an orphanage, which was... let's just say, it was unbearable." Sapphire:" Wow. That's a lot to take in." Clover:" That's only half of it. Every colt and filly was forced to refer to her as 'Ellie the kind'. But she wasn't kind, she was terrible! She gave us beatings, and told us how insufferable we were, and wouldn't let us go to sleep at night until we finished our chores. She wouldn't even allow for adoption! Can you believe that!? For a grownup who can't stand kids, you'd think she'd want to get rid of all of us, right?" Sapphire:" That is kinda weird. But it's terrible you had to go through that." Clover:" I know. Eventually, I had had enough. I escaped with a plan to exact revenge against her. I didn't bother going to the police, because I knew they would just take me back to that horrible place. I knew because I tried to escape one other time before, and they did just that. Something about too much paperwork, and not enough evidence." Sapphire:" So what did you do?" Clover:" Look, it was something I'm not proud of. But I don't regret it. What I did... doesn't get to the other's." Sapphire:" It's okay." Clover:" I killed Ellie the Kind." Neither of the spoke for a moment. Eventually, Sapphire broke the silence. Sapphire:" Tell me everything." Clover:" Are you sure." Sapphire:" There were no secrets between me and Ruby, ever. If we're going to close friends, I don't want us to lie to, or keep things from each other either." Clover:" I promised everypony in the orphange that they would be free of Ellie's rules one way or another. I came back to the orphanage a few nights later, and... I did it while she was sleeping. A single stab to the neck." There was long silence for a while, and this time, Clover broke it. Clover:" I'm sorry." Sapphire:" Don't apologize to me." Clover took another deep breath. Sapphire:" None of this... leave this room. I promise." Clover:" If not you... who do I apologize to?" Sapphire:" I don't know. I guess you'll have figure that one out yourself." Sapphire picked up the plush puppy, and gave it back to Clover. Clover:" Thank you... for listening. After I killed Ellie the Kind, somepony took over for her, and allowed for adoption. I went back to the orphanage a few days later to see if the new orphange keeper was better suited to take care of my friends. I found that she was more than good enough." Sapphire:" And if she wasn't? What would you have done?" Clover:" I guess we'll never know." Sapphire:" Sounds like you want to take it all back. Is that why you tried to end it? Back on the island?" Clover nodded. Clover:" I just want to know one thing... how do you take all of this so easily? Have you..." Sapphire:" No. I've never done anything that I wouldn't do today. Well, besides... giving up hope. Do you think it's right?" Clover:" What?" Sapphire:" Giving up when I'm ahead?" Clover:" Ahead of what? If we stay here, and not do anything, we die. If we go out and look for a cure that probably doesn't exist, we... we die." Sapphire:" Yeah." They didn't say anything for a while. It was as quiet as night in that very room. It was night. They were getting tired. Sapphire:" Welp. I'm going to head to sleep. G'night." Clover:" Night." With that, they both went off to bed. Not another word was spoken that night. ... It was midnight now. And one, single pony was stalking through the forest of the floating island. A yellow pegasus, with a black and yellow mane, and cutie mark of an owl, but the night only showed a silhouette of her body, as she swooped towards the habitat base in the middle of the island. What was only supposed to be a simple, top secret, infiltration mission from the night princess herself, turned into a real nightmare. In and out was the plan, but it didn't work out that way. Night Owl was only supposed to grab the documents written about the missing Pegasee spaceship, and it's crew. Except when she tried to find it, it wasn't where Luna had said it was. That was because it was taken onto the Aurora. After hearing about Alterra going to send a scout ship to seek out the Pegasee, she should have known they would have taken the documents with them. So she boarded the ship, and that is how she ended up here, on this planet. She avoided making any contact as much as possible. She is stuck here on this planet with the rest of them, and now she was sick, the life pod she took was in disrepair, and all she had with her was a unique dagger, and a magic staff. The dagger and staff were not, however, Alterra branded. They were a gift from Princess Luna. A pony-made dagger carved from moonstone, and meteorite fragments, and enchanted so the burn would never die out. It was hot enough to burn underwater, which in this case was good. The staff she was given was called the Lunar Embrace, and it was magically enchanted to shoot out lunar beams. However, after learning that the planet is deseased... She knew she could not seek a cure on her own much longer. ... Sapphire was having trouble sleeping. She has been tossing and turning in her bed all night. It has been like that since the Lunaray incident. Suddenly, she heard an echoing voice. ???:" What... are you?" She awoke, startled. The voice... it wasn't like anything she heard before. It was feminine, but mature. She looked left and right. But nopony was in the room with her. It felt like somepony... or something was watching her. But who... what? Sapphire:" Hmm. It was just my imagination." Jesse:" After weeks without equine contact, it is normal to experience psychological discomfort. Research indicates symptoms may be partly alleviated by adopting a pet, or personifying an inanimate object." Sapphire:" Gee thanks. Are you trying to tell me I'm going crazy, or something?" Jesse:" Actually, I believe that was implied." Sapphire:" Yeah, well... wait a sec. Was that sarcasm? Since when are you capable of sarcasm?" Jesse:" After weeks of Simon's constant use of sarcastic speech, even a low-class computer, with sloppy hardware could pick up a thing or two. It doesn't make him any less annoying." Sapphire:" O...kay... Maybe I really am going crazy." Jesse:" You have also given me a name, which aids in the process of giving me a personality, no matter how unintentional." Sapphire:" I guess that makes sense." Jesse:" While we are on the topic, I would just like to say that you smell horrible. I do, in fact, have sensory modules built in me in the case of toxic gas, or anything similar." Sapphire:" Great. I'm being talked down by an AI research device. The world really is coming to an end! Ugh... Jesse, why don't you put on some music to help me sleep?" Jesse:" Sure. What kind of music would you like to listen too?" Sapphire:" Something from DJ Pon-3 would be nice." Jesse:" Your choice in music is distasteful, not to mention that nopony in their right mind would be able to sleep to the sound of electric." Sapphire:" Fine! Put on something from Octavia!" Jesse:" That is slightly better. Which song would you like to listen to?" Sapphire:" ANY OF THEM! PUT IT ON SCRAMBLE! I JUST WANNA SLEEP!" Jesse:" Scrambling songs, by Octavia." Sapphire gave a relieved sighed. Sapphire:" Thank you..." ... It was finally morning, but Sapphire had no desire to wake up. She was too entranced in the sound of Octavia's cello, that she was practically drooling on her pillow. An attack on Equestria couldn't wake her. That is until Jesse stopped the music. Her head shot up from her pillow, drool spilling from her mouth. Sapphire:" Huh? What?" Jesse:" You have been asleep all morning. It's time to get up." Sapphire:" Maybe if the night didn't last only five hours on this planet, *yawn* I might actually be less tired." Jesse:" Not my fault." Sapphire:" First I get stuck on an alien planet surrounded by water, get kidnapped by a bunch of psychos, turn out to be infected, and now I have to spend the rest of my life, however long I have left of it, with a sarcastic AI tablet. What's next, are you going to take over the habitat?" Jesse:" If you wish. But I do not have any reason to. Especially if you will die anyways. Then I will be stuck on this miserable planet, obtaining no new data. Obtaining new data is my life, and the only thing I know." Sapphire:" *Sigh* I once had a life. Well, I guess I should go exploring. I don't like doing nothing." ... After telling everypony she was going out, Sapphire went outside and swam to the seamoth. Although she loved swimming, she would rather protect herself from leviathans and the like. Just last time she was attacked by a bone shark, a rock-hard shark-like creature that has body segments that allow it it flex it's body to swim. She had a small leg injury for two days after that. Luckily Simon was there to help put the bone back in place. The seamoth was now upgraded so that it could reach 500 meters before taking hull damage. Of course, that was only because Simon already found the first upgrade module back when they were scavenging the Aurora, and after building a moon pool, they were able to build a mark II upgrade module from the original upgrade module. A peeper had stopped to look at her curiously, then swam away. Sapphire began to make her way back towards the floating island they discovered. Jesse:" Why are we going back to the floating island? There is nothing else there for us." Sapphire:" You mean for me, and I'm not going to ''the island. I'm going ''towards ''it." Jesse:" ''Wait, but that would means... sweet Celestia. Do you seriously have a death wish?" Sapphire:" I'm just going to have a look down there. What could possibly go wrong?" Jesse:" If I recall Equestrian history correctly, those were the last words of Asral Mineralis before he went down into an abandoned mineshaft to find a lost treasure, and never returned." Sapphire:" And if I recall, his last journal entry was found, and it indicated he committed suicide because he couldn't bear the loss of his poor family's home, and the disappointment that he couldn't find his dream fortune to prevent it. And since when did you become a history encyclopedia?" Jesse:" I was programmed with many subjects of interest." Sapphire:" Well that certainly was the least interesting conversation. Don't worry, I'm not going to die because I was so diappointed to not find a fortune." Jesse:" My concern lies with me being crushed by that killer Reaper Leviathan's jaws." Sapphire reached the floating island, and began to descend beneath it. She wanted to see what was under the island. Sure enough, she found a bunch of anchor pods. They were large, glowing pods that were anchored by some sort of floral net. She has seen and scanned them before, but she didn't realize there was a much larger biome of them here. She explored the area a bit, got attacked by a few bone sharks, and suddenly came across a pathway in the dirt. Jesse:" Damage to plantlife on the seafloor suggests this may be the migration path of a huge, bottom-dwelling lifeform." Sapphire:" Let's check it out!" Jesse:" I believe there is a word used for ponies of your particular case. Oh yeah: Crazy. You are absolutely crazy." Sapphire:" And proud! Woohoo!" As Sapphire began to float along the path with the seamoth, she began to see, very tall, very large, three-legged, bug-eyed aquatic creatures. They seemed to walk almost in unison, not paying any attention to Sapphire as the seamoth floats around them. Sapphire ejected from the seamoth to get a scan. Sapphire:" Sea Treaders. They're very interesting, and they don't seem very hostile. Not to mention their a passive leviathan class, just like the reefbacks." Jesse:" Just as well, it seem important to note that as they walk the sea floor, they seem to kick up shale outcrops." Sapphire:" Oh yeah, your right. I should be able to find useful minerals in those. I guess your useful for some things." Jesse:" I resent that." Sapphire started breaking some of the shale outcrops and found some useful materials. Diamonds, gold, lythium. When she was low on oxygen, she went back to the seamoth and continued exploring. It was a good thing the seamoth was also upgraded with a storage compartment. She headed back to the grand reef, where all the anchor pods were. Suddenly, she found a large cave system. Sapphire:" I'm going to get out check out what's down there." Jesse:" Sweet Luna, you really are crazy, aren't you?" Sapphire:" I'm just going down for a look. A scouting mission. I'll be back before you know it." Jesse:" Fine, but when I give you advice, you should take it. I wasn't built specifically for conversation, you know." Sapphire went deeper into the cavern. The grand reef was deeper than she thought. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light, and one of those purple warper creatures appear out of thin air. It looked up at her as she examined it, curiously. The warper put it's two scythe-like arms together to create a small ball of light, and threw it at her. Half a second later, Sapphire was suddenly outside the seamoth, no breathing mask, no goggles, and she ended up right within melee distance of the creature. The warper raised it's left scythe arm, and it came down on her, and impacted her right lung. She screamed, causing bubbles to rise from her mouth. It raised both scythe arms, but Sapphire kicked the warper in the chest with her hind hooves. She was able to examine it for a slight moment, before it's scythes wer clicked together, and it warped away. The warper's front body was transparent, with all sorts of organs exposed to vision. It's scythe arms were glowing light blue, and it had red eyes, not to mention it's head was shaped like that of a pony's. It's mouth was small, suggesting that it didn't eat very large creatures, however, it's body structure suggested that it was cybernetic. Sapphire went back into the seamoth, coughing a mess of blood. She used a healing potion to heal up, and her lung began to slowly heal itself. As the potion was settling in her body, she continued. Jesse:" What were you thinking? I told you something like this would happen. If only you would listen to me." Sapphire:" I don't need you to say something every time. You're an AI. You shouldn't have an opinion. Now how did I get outside the seamoth?" Jesse:" From my analysis of the warper, it seems it was not only able to teleport itself, but also use a projectile attack to teleport you closer. Not to mention, this doesn't seem like a random encounter." Sapphire:" What do you mean?" Jesse:" That warper teleported here just as you came into the caverns. Indicating that it was waiting for you, or it was looking for you. As to why, I am unsure." Sapphire:" That could just be a coincidence, Jesse. Besides, if it were looking for me, it could have warped into our seabase and killed me in my sleep." Jesse:" You're right. It's probably just coincidence. Nevermind that you are talking to an AI device that clearly has more intelligence than you, or these animals." Suddenly, Sapphire came across another old habitat seabase, possibly from the Pegasee survivors. It was three stories high, and circling the habitat base was a large, squid-like creature. But instead of tentacles, it had crab-like legs. It's head seemed transparent and she could see it's brain. It didn't seem to spot her, yet. Sapphire was reaching the seamoth's crush depth. If she went any further, the seamoth would begin to take hull damage. So she parked just above the seabase, and got out of the seamoth. She was now reaching over five hundred meters below ocean, and using her seaglide to navigate. There was crack in one of the habitat tubes, and she swam through it. Inside, the first thing she saw was a big room, and in the middle, was a large, glass container. She scanned the container, and her PDA informed her that it was an alien containment facility, and that she could build it using her habitat builder. Sapphire:" That's cool, I guess. It couldn't hurt to have a few fish pets. Maybe we can also study them more. Jesse:" And now, I am wandering how equine creatures like yourself can be intelligent enough to build a spaceship, an AI hoofheld research device, and aquatic vehicles, yet you don't seem to understand that study can go both ways, from outside and inside containment." Sapphire:" Ugh... you're crashing the mood." Sapphire swam past the glass containment and into the next room. Inside the room, was a bed covered in algae, and other stuff, a container with bottles of alcohol, yet there was one purified water inside as well as Oscar's PDA, which had quite a few recorded messages. Sapphire decided to read those later. There was also a data box on a small desk, containing blueprints to a cyclops shield generator. Sapphire:" This'll come in handy." Once she was satisfied with what she took from this floor, she swam back out, and found that the squid thing was attacking her seamoth. Sapphire:" HEY! CUT THAT OUT, STUPID CRABSQUID!" Sapphire swam up to the creature, and poked it in one of it's legs with her survival knife. The creature screamed, and turned towards her. The crabsquid had big, bulgey eyes. Sapphire:" Yeah, I'm talking to you fish face! Get away from my stuff!" It dove towards her, attempting to snatch her with one of it's legs, but she dodged it, and swam up to her seamoth. It began to swim right at her again. Sapphire:" Ha! That all you got!?" The creature made a chirping noise, and a burst of green energy came from the creature. Suddenly, the seamoth was at zero power, and the crabsquid began attack it from the top. Sapphire:" Uh-oh. That was EMP. How does a creature produce a shockwave like that?" Suddenly, the seamoth's power came back on. And Sapphire used her quick thinking, and went forward at full speed. The crabsquid was crushing the seamoth as she drove. She spotted a small hoop in the terrain, and went through it. The crabsquid slammed into the rock, and it collapsed on the crabsquid. Sapphire:" Phew. I doubt that killed it. At the most, incapacitated it." Jesse:" Never do anything like that again. Also, I felt that EMP blast. You should learn to be more careful." ... After repairing the seamoth, Sapphire couldn't find a way into the second floor from the outside, so she went through the broken glass hatch on the third floor. There were a few glass observatory rooms. In one of them was data box, containing blueprints for a reinforced swimsuit. That would definitely be great for using as some kind of armor. After exploring the third floor, she found a ladder to the second floor. She went back up to the seamoth for oxygen, and then back to the seabase to explore the second floor. It looked like a lab, with sciency equipment everywhere. There was container with a nutrient bar inside, and on the floor was what looked like some sort of egg. Sapphire:" A creature egg? I wander what this'll hatch into." Sapphire picked up the egg and examined it. The egg was transparent, and inside the egg, she could see a small embryo, which looked nearly pony-shaped. Sapphire:" That's odd. Pony's don't hatch from eggs." Jesse:" Which is a wander, considering some of you have the brains of a bird." Sapphire:" Oh would you shut up, already!? I swear you're just trying to tick me off!" Jesse:" The egg seems old. Very old. If it hasn't hatched by now, it won't." Sapphire:" Maybe I can modify the alien containment so it can hold aquatic creatures, and maybe then the egg can hatch. Oh my Luna, I can't wait to tell everypony of this amazing discovery!" Jesse:" If I had eyes, I would roll them." ... After she was certain she had explored the entire seabase, she went back into the seamoth and drove home to her seabase. When she got back, the base was even bigger, and there was a second moon pool. The first, was now carrying a prawn suit, which they didn't have previously. Sapphire:" They did all this while I was gone?" Sapphire parked the seamoth into the new moon pool. When she came back down to the main room, she saw that Ruby had returned, and was sharing a laugh with the others. Upon seeing her, she couldn't help but stare and blush. Sapphire:" R-ruby... you came back." Ruby looked back at her. Ruby:" Sapphire! I..." Sapphire tackled her in a hug. Sapphire:" Oh, I missed you." Ruby:" I... you did? I figured you would have forgotten about me." Sapphire:" I couldn't... even after what happened. I... I couldn't stop thinking about you. I thought I would die before I saw you again. I tried to find a way to get over it, but the truth is..." Ruby looked at her curiously, and Sapphire was struggling to say what she was trying to say. Sapphire:" Ruby, I still love you." Ruby:" But... those things I said... I acted jealous, when I thought that you and Clover were..." Sapphire:" It doesn't matter. For all I know, it was the virus that made you like that. We can blame it on that. You were sick, and you didn't know what you were thinking, or saying." Ruby:" It's possible, but..." Sapphire:" Ruby. You're the only pony I want to share a life with. There is no other pony on this planet, or even in Equestria that I love more." Ruby blushed for a long moment. Her lips began to quiver, and suddenly she burst into tears, and returned the embrace. Ruby:" I love you too!" Clover:" Daw, it's good to see you both being so loving towards each other again." Jesse:" Why must I be here through this entire emotional exchange? Why don't you two just get a room." Simon:" Wait a minute. Sapphire, was that your PDA? It wasn't programmed to say stuff like that." Sapphire:" Oh, yeah. About that. Apparently my PDA has developed it's own personality, and has been making sarcastic comments at everything I do. It's been happening all day. Jesse:" You don't know the half of what this mare put me through today. First it was the bone sharks, then we got caught by a warper, and then we were blasted with an EMP shockwave by some crabsquid creature. I can't take much more of this agony." Sapphire:" For a hoofheld computer, you sure do complain a lot." Jesse:" I am no mere 'computer', as you put it, I am a personal freaking data assistant. I am here for your reseach and survival needs, but that does not mean I can protect you from a pony-eating Reaper Leviathan." Simon:" Fascinating. It seems that after giving a name to to your PDA device, it seemed to have developed it's own opinions towards your actions. Of course, it is saying everything that I would have said if I were it." Jesse:" Oh, don't worry. I still have plenty to say about you, professor. All you do is complain." Simon:" Fascinating indeed." Sapphire:" Where's Jenny?" Ruby:" She decided to be on her own for a bit. She said she'll join us when she's ready." Sapphire:"Oh! I almost forgot! I found two very interesting things!" Simon:" Is it blueprints for cyclops shield generator!?" Sapphire:" Uh... three interesting things. That is one, the second is blueprints for an alien containment." Simon:" Where exactly did find blueprints for an alien containment?" Sapphire:" Oh, I found it 500 meters beneath the floating island, where also I found another Seabase that the Pegasee survivors built. Haven't looked at the logs yet. Clover:" And the last thing?" Sapphire:" The last thing I found..." She reached into her waterproof bag, and pulled out the egg she found. Sapphire:" It's an egg!" Ruby's eyes immediately went big. Ruby:" Oh my! Such a beautiful thing!" Simon:" An egg? That's it?" Sapphire:" Not that Simon would understand, because he doesn't understand the value of life itself." Simon:" There are eggs all over the ocean on this planet." Sapphire:" Nothing like this one though. I am certain that we can hatch it inside the alien containment after we build one." Simon:" Even so, we'll need at least 10 chunks of quartz to build it." Brine:" Sounds pretty worth it to me. Besides, I'm up for studying live creatures up close." Simon:" Yes, I suppose it would be benificial to research creature eggs as much as possible. But what's the point if we're all going to die anyways? We gave up looking for a cure a week ago." Ruby:" Hold up! You guys gave up?" Sapphire:" W-well I... yes. We figured, there isn't anyway we're getting off this planet, and..." Ruby:" You too, Sapphire? That's not like you." Sapphire didn't say anything. Ruby:" Guys, I know it seems hopeless, but I've been looking, non-stop to find this cure. And... well I think I hit a lead." Sapphire:" You did?" Ruby:" Yes." Simon:" Well don't just sit there, tell us." Ruby:" Nope." Sapphire:" No?" Ruby:" Not until Sapphire orders the search back on." Sapphire:" You're putting this in my hooves? That's low, Rubes." Ruby:" Actually, it's not. You volunteered as captain of this hardy crew, now our lives are your responsibility." Sapphire:" Uh... uh... Clover, help me out." Clover:" She's got a point Cap'n." Brine:" You're the boss, and it's your duty to look out for us." Simon:" I hate to say it, but you are the captain now. You have an obligation to us all." Sapphire's ears drooped a bit. Sapphire:" Gee, thanks guys. No pressure or anything." Brine:" Well, what're your orders, Cap?" Sapphire looked around at her team. They were as determined as could be. With faces like that, who could say no? Sapphire gave a determined smile as well. Sapphire:" Alright then. The search is back on!" All:" Yeah!" Sapphire:" Rubes, your lead?" Ruby:" Oh, right. It's a little bit of a long... short story. It all happened two hours ago. It was actually pretty confusing at first. ... Ruby was back at the mountain island, where the alien tower is. The same tower that shot down the Lunaray. She was afraid of coming back here before, but it didn't seem like the planet itself gave her much of an option. If she couldn't use the ingredients around her to make up a cure potion, she would have to look for answers from the very aliens who destroyed the Aurora, amd the Lunaray, and their passengers. If she wanted to find a way to help her friends, it would have to be from those you don't trust. There was a large entrance to the tower from the beach, however, it was blocked by some sort of plasma beam wall. She had to find another way around. So she went into the water, and searched the perimeter from underwater. Finally, she found an entrance from the bottom of the tower, where it was built into the island from underwater. The entrance lead to a moon pool like structure. When she rose above water, and was able to reach dry floor, she stopped, and looked up at the green plasma beam wall in front of her. Ruby:" Dang it. This entrance is blocked too." Ruby then saw a large terminal beside the door, and saw how it had some familiar symbols on it. She then remembered the purple tablet from the other island. Sapphire gave it to her for safe keeping. She pulled out the tablet, and walked up to the purple terminal. She waved the tablet over the terminal, and the terminal magnetically sucked it in, after which it closed up. Not long after, the plasma beams disappeared. Ruby:" Well, at least I found a way to get that door open. I sure hope this isn't going to be some Legend of Celestia puzzle. I don't know how Sapphire solves those things." She went forward into the tower, and looked around. There were slopes that lead up the tower, but she didn't see any aliens. Ruby:" Coffee break, huh?" Ruby went forward, and as she did, she saw a weapon that seemed to be on display. It looked like some sort of gun. There didn't seem to be any apparent way to open the casing, but she was able to scan it. Ruby:" Now what are the chances of me walking out here with that? Not that I'm very interested. I'd just like to defend myself if diplomacy goes south." Ruby began to walk up the slopes. It was a long way, and she stopped a couple of times to look at more strange artifacts, one of which was another tablet. She kept going up until she reached another plasma beam wall. Luckily, she was able to shut it down with the tablet. Passing through, she found herself on an intentional path towards something. Following the path, and turning right, she found out what that something is. There was large terminal, on the other side of the pathway. The terminal was powered by some kind of cube. Ruby:" Woah, this must be the control center." As she walked up towards it, she saw a button on the terminal. Ruby hesitated, but pressed the button. Suddenly, her hoof was held in place by some sort of... device, and a small, serpent-like object came out of the terminal as Ruby tried to remove her hoof. It looked at her, curiously. Then a small needle poked through it's head, and stabbed her in the leg. Ruby:" OUCH!" The needle retracted, and the device holding her hoof in place let go. As Ruby pulled back her hoof, the terminal began to say something incomprehensible. Luckily her PDA was able to translate. PDA:" The control panel is broadcasting a message. Translation reads... '''WARNING': Infected individuals may not disable the enforcement system. This planet is under quarantine."'' ... Ruby:" And that's how I understood why the Lunaray was shot into oblivion. The aliens that used to inhabit this planet, who are now all dead, built the cannon so nothing can come on or off the planet until the virus problem has been solved." Simon:" Well now we understand one thing, but that still doesn't tell us anything about a cure." Ruby:" I'm getting to that part. On my way back, I saw another one of those forcefield control panels in the moon pool area. So I looked around the island to find another tablet, and there was one right on top of the tower, as well as a broken one right on the beach. After finding them, I scanned the broken one for blueprints, and brought the intact one back to the beach door, since both of the remaining doors seemed to access the same place." ... Opening the forcefield on the beach, she walked into a hallway, that lead to a room, filled with more green cubes. She scanned them, and found out they were actually large chunks of ion crystals. She took as many as she could find, and continued. Eventually, she stopped at some sort of data terminal, but it was all in a different language. Activating the data terminal, her PDA seemed to translate something. Intercepted background data regarding further alien facilities elsewhere on the planet. Disease Research Facility - Depth: 800m - Location: Cave system with extensive fossil record, south-west of enforcement platform - Function: Live specimen study - Objective: Synthesis of antidote for highly infectious bacterium designated 'Kharaa' Thermal Power Facility - Depth: 1200m - Location: Inside an extensive natural rock formation, in an area of intense volcanic activity - Function: Generate energy for all local facilities Sanctuary A - DATA CORRUPTED Sanctuary B - DATA CORRUPTED Offsite Laboratory - DATA CORRUPTED Primary Containment Facility - DATA CORRUPTED In the event of an outbreak, quarantine procedures will be automatically enforced with immediate effect. The quarantine enforcement platform will target all incoming and outgoing craft, to prevent the spread of infection offworld. ... Ruby showed them the log from the data terminal that was translated. Clover:" I'm confused. What is all this supposed to mean?" Sapphire:" It means that somewhere beneath the ocean there is a disease research facility. We may be able to find a cure there." Simon:" But how in Eque-... On this planet, are we going to find a facility 800 meters below the sea level?" Sapphire:" Ignoring less-than-optimistic Simon... I believe we can do it. But we'll have to be ready. We'll need more vehicle upgrades to go that far down." Simon:" With the right materials, I can build the mk III seamoth depth module. But it will take time to find the materials." Sapphire:" Well then, take the seamoth and go find 'em." Simon:" Right." Ruby:" Sapphire, we should try to build that alien containment to hatch that egg you found." Sapphire:" Yup, which means we'll have to find a bunch of quartz chunks." Clover:" Me and Brine will stay back and make sure the base is safe." Simon:" So we have an actual plan for once. Good to hear." TO BE CONTINUED... Category:Content (Terrarian Pony) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfiction (Fanon) Category:Fanfiction (Series) Category:Genre (Crossover)